Miles Shen and his men stopped in their tracks. Miles, furious, ordered, "Damn it, everyone guard this spot! This is the only exit—let's see how long they can last inside!"
Everyone was relieved Miles Shen hadn't made them go inside. To be honest, they were scared to enter, so they'd rather wait out here.
As for Liam Yang, he had no idea what was inside. To escape those behind him, he sprinted ahead, carrying Faye Lin on his back.
After a while, Liam noticed it was quiet and laughed, "It's fine, it's fine."
He set Faye down. She looked at him with a strange expression, "Why didn't you leave?"
"With you in their hands, how could I leave? I'm not that kind of person," Liam replied with a smile.
Faye asked, "You... are you really willing to give up everything?"
"Of course. See? I'm fine now, aren't I?" Liam grinned. Faye glanced at him and said, "Look at you—there's blood at the corner of your mouth, and on your body too."
Only then did Liam realize he was still bleeding. He took off his armor and said, "Let me deal with my wounds first." He closed his eyes and began to tighten all his injuries.
Seeing his wounds shrink together like wriggling insects, Faye was startled. The technique Liam used was one taught by the Spatial Patriarch.
While Liam was tending his wounds, the heavy scent of blood attracted some unknown creatures from the depths of Tiger Prison Valley.
Faye noticed some shiny things moving in the darkness, like gems in the night. She frowned, until Liam suddenly opened his eyes and said, "Danger's coming."
Out of the darkness came several tiger-like beasts. Their claws were razor sharp, grinding the ground into powder with every step.
Liam frowned, "What kind of creatures are these?"
"I don't know. I just heard there were unknown creatures deep in Tiger Prison Valley, but I never thought it was true," Faye replied, frowning.
"Stay close to me. Be careful—don't let them touch you," Liam warned, worried about Faye's safety since she was still injured.
Though Liam had just barely recovered, he wasn't much better off. Still, he pretended nothing was wrong and stared at the five beasts ahead.
The five beasts each opened their mouths and let out a roar. Faye felt her chest tighten, but Liam was fine. He turned to her and asked, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. But be careful—they're terrifying," Faye said.
"Relax. However many come, I'll wipe them all out," Liam replied.
No sooner had Liam finished speaking than the foremost beast lunged at him, trying to bite. Liam extended his hand and unleashed a ball of flame, wrapping the tiger in fire. He sneered, "Dare to act tough in front of me? I'll show you!"
The tiger convulsed on the ground, a burnt smell rising from its body. These beasts were intelligent; realizing Liam wasn't to be messed with, they quickly hid and vanished.
"If you don't put them in their place, they'll really think I'm easy to bully," Liam laughed.
"Are you alright?" Faye asked.
Seeing Faye's concern, Liam smiled, "I'm fine, don't worry."
"That's good." Faye smiled. Seeing her smile, Liam felt a surge of happiness. He thought about Miles Shen and the others outside, and figured it might be better to stay here with Faye for a while to deepen their bond.
Unaware of Liam's thoughts, Faye asked, "What should we do now?"
"They've got people outside, and they're many. It'll be tough for us to get through. Let's see if there's another exit deeper inside," Liam said.
"But... there are scary things deeper in. I'm afraid we'll..." Faye said with worry.
Liam laughed, "Don't worry, it'll be fine. You saw it yourself—they just got knocked down by me, didn't they?"
"That's true, but I'm still worried there might be other dangers," Faye said, unable to relax.
"Don't worry, as long as I'm here. Don't you trust me?" Liam laughed.
"It's not that—I think you're overthinking," Faye replied with a smile.
"Alright, let's keep going," Liam said, then led Faye forward.
The two continued deeper, while Miles Shen and his group kept waiting outside.
Liam and Faye had walked far into the depths, torch in hand. Stone walls surrounded them. After half an hour, Liam noticed something ahead and stopped, "Careful, there's movement up front."
Liam spat out flames, sending them ahead to the source of the disturbance. Suddenly, a shadow appeared, moving fast. Before Liam could react, it slammed him to the ground, then vanished again.
Luckily, Liam activated his armor in time and avoided disaster. He climbed up, furious, "Whoever that was, how dare you ambush me!"
The creature appeared again, ghostlike. This time Liam saw it clearly—arms spread, flames gathered, blocking the creature outside. It had wings, huge staring eyes, and a pointed beak, resembling a bat.
"Die!" Liam snorted coldly.
The bat suddenly flattened itself against the wall and merged into it. Liam and Faye exchanged puzzled looks—this was beyond anything they'd imagined.
"What..." Liam muttered, suspicious.
Faye frowned, "Could it be the legendary Stone-Wall Bat?"
"Stone-Wall Bat? What's that?" Liam asked curiously. Faye explained, "The so-called Stone-Wall Bat is a strange creature. Wherever there's a wall, it can hide inside, impossible to detect."
"That powerful?" Liam said in surprise.
"Yeah, but it's not an evil creature. As long as we avoid it, we'll be fine," Faye told Liam.
"Really? That's great—I'm going to catch it," Liam laughed.
"Huh?" Faye exclaimed, surprised.
"It slammed right into me just now. I want to see what kind of creature it really is, with such amazing abilities," Liam said. He started working around the wall, while Faye had no idea what he was doing.
Liam was setting up a spatial confinement array. He didn't believe his own array couldn't trap it. When he finished, Faye asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm setting up an array. This array will wrap everything behind the wall. Now, I'll activate it," Liam said with a smile, then began to activate the array.
Under Faye's gaze, the array started to glow blue, growing brighter and forming a prison-like enclosure. Inside, a shadow appeared—it was the bat from earlier.
Faye was amazed, curious how Liam managed it. Liam grinned, "Heh, done! Looks like my master's spatial confinement array is the real deal—it hasn't failed in this environment."
"It looks pretty angry," Faye said, watching the bat slam against the barrier, unable to escape.
Liam chuckled, "Watch this." He spoke to the bat, "Will you submit or not?"
"No!" the bat actually replied. At least it wasn't a low-level creature. Liam laughed, "Not convinced? Can you get out, then?"
The bat fell silent. Liam smiled, "You have two options: stay trapped here forever, or come with me and follow me from now on—I'm your boss."
Faye was stunned by Liam's words, unable to believe it. "Wait, what?"
The bat hadn't expected this either. But it didn't want to stay trapped, and had long wanted to leave, but no one could take it out. So it said, "I can follow you, but you can't abuse me or make me do things I don't want to."
"I can agree to the first part, but not the second. If I'm ever in danger and need you to do something you don't want, what then?" Liam replied.
"Don't worry. Since I'm following you, our lives are tied together—if you die, I die too," the bat said.
Hearing this, Liam laughed, "Alright, from today on, you're with me."
"Then let me out," the bat said. Liam released the array, and the bat emerged from the wall. Suddenly, a small bat-shaped mark appeared on Liam's forehead. Curious, he touched it and asked, "What's this?"
"That's my mark. It means our lives are linked, and I can hide myself too." With that, the bat vanished, but Liam could still feel something on his forehead.
"You're on my forehead?" Liam asked, puzzled.
"That's right," the bat replied.
"Seriously? It looks awful," Liam grumbled, annoyed by the sudden mark.
"Can't be helped. I can't put my mark anywhere else on you," the bat said. Liam had no choice but to accept. "Fine, whatever."
Once Liam calmed down, Faye asked, "How did it go?"
"All done. It's under control now," Liam said with a smile.
"That's good," Faye said with a smile.
Seeing Faye smile, Liam felt happy too. He asked the bat, "You've lived here for years—are there any other exits?"
"There is one, but I'm not sure you can get through," the bat replied.
"Why not? Just tell me," Liam laughed.
The bat nodded and pointed out the route to Liam. Liam, delighted, led Faye onward.
When they reached the deepest part, Liam was stunned. Looking up, he saw a small circle in the sky. He frowned, "What's this?"
"That's the hole. I can get out, but you can't—you're too big. Plus, you can't use spatial treasures here, so you're stuck," the bat explained.
"Then why did you bring me here?" Liam asked angrily.
"I told you before, but you wouldn't listen. You insisted I show you—now look where we are," the bat said helplessly.